WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In a new study published in Nature Partner Journals: Aging, scientists found that psilocin, a substance the body makes after taking psilocybin, helped human skin and lung cells live over 50 percent longer. Notably, psilocybin is the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms.
Researchers from Emory University and Baylor College of Medicine tested psilocin on human cell samples and live mice. The scientists used adult skin cells and fetal lung cells in the lab. These cells were treated with psilocin and watched until they stopped dividing, a stage called 'senescence.' Lung cells treated with the compound took 57 percent longer to reach this stage, while skin cells lasted 51 percent longer than normal.
In both cases, the scientists found that the treated cells lived much longer than untreated ones, and the mice that got the treatment were more likely to survive through the study period.
In tests on mice, 19-month-old females, equivalent to about 60-65 years in humans, were given a psilocybin dose once a month. After 10 months, 80 percent of these mice were still alive compared to only 50 percent of those that didn't get the treatment.
Although researchers didn't closely examine aging signs, the treated mice appeared to age more slowly, with better fur quality and fewer white hairs.
'This study provides strong preclinical evidence that psilocybin may contribute to healthier aging- not just a longer lifespan, but a better quality of life in later years,' said study co-investigator Ali John Zarrabi.
'As a palliative care physician-scientist, one of my biggest concerns is prolonging life at the cost of dignity and function. But these mice weren't just surviving longer-they experienced better aging.'
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